1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the art of containers and particularly, to the art of capless containers for use in dispensing medicine.
2. Prior Art
Containers which have caps for allowing an opening to be covered or uncovered are known in the art. These containers come in a variety of shapes and sizes and are used for a variety of materials. A body portion typically serves to contain the material being stored and also provides an opening such as a threaded neck for attaching a cap. Many of these containers are designed to be child-proof by providing caps which must be manipulated in a particular fashion in order to be removed. While many of these containers may be successful in preventing children from gaining access to the contents, they also prevent adults who may be arthritic or paralyzed or who, for some other reason have the use of only one hand, from opening the containers. Thus, these types of containers have limited usefulness since they cannot be used by adults unable to open them. One solution to this problem is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,522,313 issued on June 11, 1985 to the co-inventors of the present invention. This patent discloses an article dispenser in which the articles are stored in a vessel having a sphere pivotally suspended from the vessel for rotation in only one direction about a singular axis that is offset from a second axis. The article within the container is conveyed from its stored location within the vessel into a cavity in the sphere and from the cavity to a location external to the vessel when the sphere is rotated. While the abovenoted invention of U.S. Pat. No. 4,522,313 provides an elegant solution to the aforementioned problem, alternative solutions which may be less expensive to manufacture or assemble or which involve a different type of motion by the user to gain access to the articles contained therein would be highly desirable to achieve.